Celtic’s 10th Manager (1997-98) – Wim Jansen, the man who stopped their ten…
When Wim Jansen was appointed Manager in 1997, less than one in a hundred of Celtic supporters could have told you who he was. Possibly the more geekish of us recalled that he had played against Celtic in the 1970 European Cup final for Feyenoord, but he was hardly a household name. And this was the man called upon to stop the 10 in a row!
He started badly with a defeat at Easter Road and his new signing Henrik Larsson a distinct flop.a few other signings followed, not all of them great ones! Some horrible games followed, but gradually Jansen, with the help of his assistant Murdo MacLeod (now there was an appointment we were all happy with!) got on top of things and a credible challenge emerged. Midwinter was good with the capture of the League Cup (something that convinced Celtic that they could win things again!), the signing of Paul Lambert, and the defeat of Rangers at Celtic Park. Although Celtic were still behind, the chase was on.
It was tense. Hearts were involved as well until a fairly late stage, and Celtic couldn’t always reproduce the form that the huge fanbase in the now three-quarters completed stadium craved. Jansen had learned quickly about Scotland, and was increasing in popularity, although we were all distressed to hear that he and Jock Brown the General Manager were not getting on.
It was a close run thing, but we eventually pulled through that bright May Saturday in 1998. Things looked good for the future, but then Wim suddenly resigned and disappeared! He was seldom seen again. This was a pity, for we hardly really got a chance to get to know him, and yet we owe him such an awful lot!
Wim died with dementia in 2022.
David Potter
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Before his first game v Deidco the sevvie minded Glasgow media asked Wim if this was the biggest game he had been involved in? Wim replied…..I’ve played in two World Cup Finals (74 n 78) !!